Lemongrass Chicken Rice Paper Rolls
Recipe video above. You can make chicken rice paper rolls using plain shredded chicken. But they're so much more exciting with caramelised little bits of lemongrass marinated chicken! This is one of those recipes I pitch as "light-and-fresh-but-not-boring", not that we would expect anything less from the Vietnamese. The fresh mint in this really makes it, so don't skimp on it! But the thing everybody goes mad for is the peanut sauce. Always!Feel free to switch the vegetables - see Ingredients section in post for lots of other options. For a peanut-free sauce alternative, use sweet chilli sauce with a dash of lime or sriracha.Next time - try the Prawn Rice Paper Rolls!
Servings: 10 rolls
Calories: 163cal
Ingredients
Lemongrass marinated chicken
- 350g / 12oz boneless chicken thighs , very finely sliced (2.5cm/1" wide, 3mm / 1/8" thick(Note 1)
- 1 1/2 tbsp fish sauce (substitute light or all-purpose soy sauce)
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp lemongrass , finely grated (or paste) (Note 2)
- 1 tbsp lime juice (substitute rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar)
- 1 garlic clove , finely grated
Cooking chicken
- 1 tbsp canola oil or other neutral oil, for cooking
Rice paper rolls
- 10 sheets round rice paper , ~22cm/8.5" (Note 3)
- 70g / 2.5 oz dried vermicelli noodles (rice noodles), or other very thin noodles
- 1 cup (packed) green cabbage , very finely sliced (so it's soft and floppy not stiff and pokey) - or any lettuce
- 1 cup (packed) red cabbage , very finely sliced (or any lettuce)
- 1 carrot , peeled and finely julienned (or cucumber)
- 1/4 cup coriander / cilantro leaves roughly chopped (or Thai Basil leaves, extra mint leaves)
- 3/4 cup small mint leaves (or tear larger ones), regular, or Vietnamese mint
Vietnamese Peanut Dipping Sauce
- 1 1/2 tbsp natural peanut butter , smooth (Substitute regular peanut butter spread, Note 4)
- 2 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 1 tbsp white vinegar (or 1/2 tbsp lime juice)
- 1/4 - 1/3 cup milk (any fat %) (or water)
- 1 small garlic clove , finely grated
- 2 tsp brown sugar
- 1/8 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp crushed chilli, samba oelak or other chilli paste , adjust spiciness to taste (optional)
Instructions
- Marinate chicken - Mix the Marinade ingredients in a bowl. Add chicken and toss to coat. Set aside to marinate for 15 minutes while you prepare everything else (or overnight).
- Peanut Sauce - Mix ingredients together in a small bowl until combined, using milk to adjust the consistency if needed so it's not too thick.
- Noodles - Place vermicelli noodles in a bowl and cover with hot water for 2 minutes, then drain very well and let cool. (Or follow packet instructions, if different).
- Cook chicken - Heat the oil in a large non-stick pan over high heat until very hot. Add half the chicken (leave residual marinade in bowl) and cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly, until lightly caramelised. Remove from the pan and spread out on a plate to cool before using. Repeat with remaining chicken. (Note: I don't cook in 2 batches in the video because the stove is super strong).
- Water bowl - Fill a large bowl with warm water. (The bowl doesn't need to be large enough to fit the whole rice paper in one go.)
- Submerge rice paper in the water for 2 seconds (if your bowl isn't large enough to fit the whole rice paper in one go, that's fine, just rotate it and count 2 seconds for each section you submerge into the water), place the smooth side down on a cutting board. (Note 3)
- Stuffing - Place stuffing just beneath the middle, in whatever order you want (it doesn't really matter), but try to pile in a symmetrical stack (for ease of rolling / neat rolls). My typical: sprinkle ~2 tsp coriander, top with one-tenth of the chicken, then carrots, cabbages, mint leaves (generous), and noodles last to weigh everything down (I wrap around hand to bundle into a neat shape).
- Roll (Note 5) - Fold the lower part of the rice paper up over the stuffing, then fold the sides in. Roll to enclose the filling, making it fairly firm. It will self-stick to seal (yay!). Don't worry if it's a bit wonky, it will still taste fabulous!
- Serve - Transfer to serving plate (ignore what I do in the video - don't stack! They stick.) Serve with peanut dipping sauce. Sometimes I cut in half and stand upright, per photos in the post (great for appetisers!).
Notes
1. Chicken cut - Thighs are better as they caramelise better and are a juicier cut of chicken, but breast will work too. Note: The bits of chicken are super small so they almost have a "candied" flavour - think Vietnamese beef jerky, khô bò vibes - the sweet beef strips often used in Vietnamese Green Papaya Salad.
You can also switch the chicken for thinly sliced meat - pork and beef come to mind (the paper thin pre-sliced meat from Asian stores is handy).
2. Lemongrass - Peel off the tough outer reedy layer and use the lower 10 - 12.5cm / 4- 5" which is white and pale green. This part can be grated - use a microplane - and any residual tough reedy bits won't grate, they go stringy, so just discard it.
Fresh lemongrass is best, but you can also use paste or frozen lemongrass, thawed (the really finely chopped type).
3. Rice paper these days is even found at regular grocery stores, in the Asian section. It's super good value too!
One side is smooth and the other is rough. The smooths side is supposed to be the outside, but it doesn't really matter. :)
4. Peanut dipping sauce - This sauce is slightly thinner than the one I use for prawn rice paper rolls which is intentional as the texture of the filling in this one has more "stringy" type things which act as a mop for the sauce. The prawn one needs a thicker sauce so it clings better.
Peanut spread (like Bega, Skippy's) can also be used but it is thicker so you'll need to add more milk (1/3 cup), and you can skip the sugar and salt. If you're struggling to make the mixture combine, warm briefly in the microwave then mix again then it will come together.
Milk doesn't add flavour to the sauce, it just makes it a lighter colour so you know it's a peanut sauce - the colour you get at Vietnamese restaurants. So you can use water if you prefer, but the sauce will be a darker brown. Or even coconut milk!
5. Rolling tip - Put the noodles on last so it weighs the cabbage etc down and makes it easier to roll without stuff flying out everywhere. Also, bundle the noodles into a neat wad by wrapping it around your hand (see demo in video).
Making ahead: Some recipes say you can make them 24 hours ahead and keep them fresh with a damp paper towel. Personally, I find they end up smelling like paper towel, and they don’t hold up that well anyway. My rule of thumb is making 6 hours ahead (8 at the absolute max). Wrap them individually in cling wrap and refrigerate. Don't pile on plate and cover whole thing with cling wrap, you need to wrap each roll individually (though you can fit two per sheet of cling wrap: wrap one first, then place another alongside and roll them up together).
DIY OPTION: A popular menu item at Vietnamese restaurants here in Sydney are DIY rice paper rolls. So lay out all the components in this recipe out on a table with a large bowl of water, and let everyone make their own!
Nutrition per rice paper roll, assuming all the sauce is consumed (it will be!).
Nutrition
Serving: 93g | Calories: 163cal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.03g | Cholesterol: 31mg | Sodium: 337mg | Potassium: 167mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 1195IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 29mg | Iron: 1mg